As a service to our readers Mobile Sports Report is making the Wi-Fi 6 Research Report we offered earlier this summer as a standalone download, for easier reading, consumption and sharing. Download the report here and start learning more about Wi-Fi 6 today!

With a wide range of technical improvements, Wi-Fi 6 will greatly advance the entire Wi-Fi ecosystem, for all types of uses. But for venue networks the new features are especially important, since Wi-Fi 6 will allow network operators to significantly improve each of the three main things that matter when it comes to in-venue network performance: it will increase the amount of available spectrum and number of channels; it will increase the average data rate for clients; and it will increase the ability to re-use channels in your space. What can Wi-Fi 6 do for your venue network? Find out now by downloading your free copy today!

The Wi-Fi 6 report encapsulated in this report is a joint effort between MSR and our friends at AmpThink, something that grew out of conversations about how to bring more forward-looking expertise on topics like Wi-Fi 6 to the MSR reader audience.

While the meat of this report is based on a Wi-Fi 6 presentation and essay developed by AmpThink, MSR helped clarify the material to make it fit into the report format, with the idea that this report would be just a starting point for deeper discussions into each of the relevant features that we think make Wi-Fi 6 a compelling technology for venues to consider.

More Wi-Fi 6 material coming soon!

When it comes to Wi-Fi 6 and venues, consider Mobile Sports Report your starting point for research, news, analysis and in-depth reporting. In an effort to get as many voices as possible into the discussion, we will also feature more podcasts about the topic — if you haven’t listened yet, our podcast discussion with Aruba’s Chuck Lukaszewski on Wi-Fi 6 is a great place to start.

Look for more profiles of Wi-Fi 6 networks coming soon — and if you want to read about one recent deployment with a lot of Wi-Fi 6 gear that is making headlines this fall, read our Stadium Tech Report profile of the new network at Ohio State — which you can now read online for free (no registration required) or download a PDF version of the report as well.

Wi-Fi enclosures in the handrails at Ohio Stadium’s upper deck. Credit all photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR (click on any picture for a larger image)

In front of a packed house Saturday night at Ohio Stadium, the Ohio State University not only gained an important Big 10 conference victory, it also broke the all-time record for most Wi-Fi data used during a single-day event, with 25.6 terabytes used by fans on the new stadium Wi-Fi network.

The new Wi-Fi network, installed this past offseason by AmpThink using Wi-Fi gear from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, had already posted the highest Wi-Fi marks for a college football event, with 13.3 TB used at the home opener on Aug. 31 and another 12.7 TB used on Sept. 7. And on Sept. 21 in a blowout of Miami of Ohio, the Ohio Stadium network saw an even higher mark of 13.7 TB used, a mark previously unreported.

It turns out those were all warm-ups to the biggest Wi-Fi day so far, which came during a prime-time TV contest against Big 10 foe Michigan State. With 104,797 fans in attendance for homecoming, the approximately 2,000 Wi-Fi access points were humming from the time the gates opened. According to statistics provided to MSR by Ohio State, the network saw an astonishing 74,940 unique connections during the 34-10 Ohio State victory, many of those on a separate SSID for Verizon Wireless customers. According to Ohio State, the peak concurrent connectivity number of 45,200 users (also a record) was seen five minutes before kickoff.

Ohio State also claims top ‘take rate’

Want the inside story on how Wi-Fi came to the Horseshoe? Read our in-depth, in-person profile of the Ohio State network deployment in the most recent issue of our STADIUM TECH REPORT, available now for free reading — no registration required!

While the numbers from Ohio Stadium Saturday top the most recent Super Bowl figures (24.05 TB seen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium) it’s worthwhile to note that there were only 70,081 fans at Super Bowl 53 compared to the 104,797 at Saturday’s game. But it’s as worthwhile to note the difficulty in design and deployment to connect an extra 30,000 fans, especially in an open-bowl venue like Ohio Stadium where the balance of seating has no overhangs above.

It’s also interesting to compare the “take rates” from the top events, since Ohio State’s topped the Super Bowl’s, with 71.5 percent of fans attending Saturday connecting to the network, compared to the previous high of 69 percent at Super Bowl 53. The most recent Super Bowl, however, still claims the title for most average data used per connected fan, with its 492.3 megabytes per user mark far ahead of Ohio State’s mark of 341.6 megabytes per connected user from Saturday.

Still to come this year for Ohio State are home games against Wisconsin on Oct. 26 and Maryland on Nov. 9, as well as a possible playoff-important matchup with Penn State on Nov. 23. A home game against top rival Michigan, however, will have to wait for 2020.

MOBILE SPORTS REPORT is pleased to announce the Fall 2019 issue of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series, the ONLY in-depth publication created specifically for the stadium technology professional and the stadium technology marketplace.

Our latest issue contains an in-person report on the new Wi-Fi 6 network installed at Ohio Stadium, which is already the top collegiate Wi-Fi network in the country, producing record results. This issue also has an in-person profile of the Wi-Fi network at the new Las Vegas Ballpark, as well as a “first look” at Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors! Download your FREE copy today!

Inside the report our editorial coverage includes:
— An in-depth look at the new Wi-Fi 6 network installed at Ohio State University’s Ohio Stadium;
— An in-person report on the Wi-Fi network at the ‘hottest’ stadium in minor league baseball, the Las Vegas Ballpark;
— A look at the single, converged fiber network infrastructure at the soon-to-open Dickies Arena in Fort Worth;
— A “First Look” at the Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors.

We’d like to take a quick moment to thank our sponsors, which for this issue include Mobilitie, JMA Wireless, Corning, Boingo, MatSing, Cox Business/Hospitality Network, Connectivity Wireless, and American Tower. Their generous sponsorship makes it possible for us to offer this content free of charge to our readers. We’d also like to welcome readers from the Inside Towers community, who may have found their way here via our ongoing partnership with the excellent publication Inside Towers. We’d also like to thank the SEAT community for your continued interest and support.

As always, we are here to hear what you have to say: Send me an email to kaps@mobilesportsreport.com and let us know what you think of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series.

Welcome back to the Stadium Tech Report podcast! We are extremely happy to kick off the new series of recorded chats by welcoming Chuck Lukaszewski to talk about the new Wi-Fi 6 standard and how it’s going to help networks inside large public venues like sports stadiums. If you don’t know Chuck, he is Vice President of Wireless Strategy & Standards at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, and has been working with Wi-Fi for a long, long time.

Chuck has also been a fantastic contributor to MSR’s ongoing attempt to educate our readers — his essay on LTE over unlicensed spectrum is always worth a read — and this conversation continues on the learning path. We open up with some general descriptions of what Wi-Fi 6 is, and then dive down into what its new features mean for venues specifically. About halfway through, you can even hear Chuck give me a lesson on the misconceptions I had about security comparisons between Wi-Fi and LTE networks — click above and start listening!

Chuck Lukaszewski is Vice President of Wireless Strategy & Standards at Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. For over a decade he has engineered and deployed large-scale 802.11 networks, joining Aruba in 2007.

Chuck has built Wi-Fi systems in stadiums, seaports, rail yards, manufacturing plants and other complex RF environments, including serving as chief engineer for many stadiums ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 seats that provide live video and other online amenities. He is the author of six books and design guides including Very High Density 802.11ac Networks and Outdoor MIMO Wireless Networks.

The Ohio Stadium scoreboard tells fans how to use the new Wi-Fi network. Credit all photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR (click on any picture for a larger image)

With almost 2,000 access points and the possibility of more than 100,000 Ohio State fans logging on, it was a good bet to think that the new Wi-Fi network at Ohio Stadium would produce some big numbers when it went live. And now, we have numbers to back up that bet, as according to the school, the new Wi-Fi network saw 13.3 terabytes of data used during the season home opener Aug. 31 vs. Florida Atlantic.

We’ll have a full profile of the network from our in-person visit to the home opener in our upcoming Fall Stadium Tech Report issue, but we wanted to share these numbers with our readers as soon as we got them, because we know interest in the network at “the Horseshoe” is high. Using Wi-Fi gear from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, in a design and deployment by AmpThink, the network saw 47,137 unique connections at the hope opener, out of 103,228 fans in attendance. The peak concurrent connection number for the day was 28,900, according to the school.

The network performed similarly a week later in a home game against Cincinnati, with 12.7 TB recorded from 47,579 unique connections (out of 104,089 in attendance). The peak concurrent connection number for the second game was 29,500, according to the school.

The big, open lower bowl at Ohio Stadium was covered mainly by handrail AP enclosures, of which there are approximately 600 across all levels of the stadium, many with two APs in each enclosure. Look for more details (and lots more pictures!) in our upcoming profile!

The exterior of Chase Center, with its humongous video board. Credit all photos: Brian Nitenson, MSR (click on any picture for a larger image)

The first event is coming up fast, but Mobile Sports Report got a sneak peek inside Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors, thanks to the photographic efforts of one of our “field scout” team members, Brian Nitenson, who attended a season ticket-holders event this weekend. Our first reaction to the photo stream is simply ‘wow!,’ and we can’t wait until we can see an event there live.

Since the wireless networks aren’t really fully operational yet we don’t have any speed tests from Brian’s visit but from his pictures we can see multiple Wi-Fi and DAS antenna deployments so it’s a safe bet that the connectivity will be first-rate. There is also some hint of advanced technology being used in the concessions department — note the photo of a sign instructing fans toward a credit-card kiosk operation — which makes sense given the main business of the arena’s title sponsor.

Much more coverage from Chase Center to follow this fall, but for now take a look at the NBA’s newest arena, a privately financed jewel on the San Francisco bay.

A good look at the Samsung center-hung scoreboard

One of the under-seat antenna deployments

Kiosk ordering! More good news as technology hits the concession stand

This is what the scoreboard looks like from seats you will never be able to afford